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Thuppul Nityardhanam Trust - Why sponsor nityardhanam and annadan am ??? By Shathakopa Thathacharya

From the Bhakti List Archives

Balaji CG • October 23, 2001 


Swamy Deshikan Thiruvadigale Sharanam !!!

Sriman Shathakpa Tathacharya writes on the significance of sponsoring
Thiruvaradhanam and Annadanam. Please read on...
Bhagavat Aradhanam - The Yagna to perform ! In Kruta Yuga, when Dharma
flourished at its helm, Yagnas were prevalent everywhere; the fruits that
the Yagnas bore made the land and its people a very prosperous and happy
lot. But alas, as time advanced, Dharma stood like an innocent cow whoose
legs were being chopped off. Come the Kali Yuga, and the Dharma was akin to
a cow standing on one leg, the other three being victims of time. In this
Yuga, the only form of Yagna possible is Bhagavat Aradhanam. Vedas say
'Aradhanam to Vishnu and His devotees is superior to all other Aradhanas'.
Invoke Him and perform pooja to Him as one would treat a King who has
pleasantly surprised you by condescending to be your guest. The Lord is
bathed, dressed and fed in splendour to make making Him as happy as
possible.Then His blessings are invoked before bidding Him a good
sleep(YogaNidra) till tommorrow. This kind of Aradhanam may be done to
ArchaMurthis - idols in temples - or Saligramas - form of Sriman Narayana
kept at homes. 
The Agama Shastras define the various roles in any Yagna. The Yajamana
-owner- of the Yagna sponsors the Yagna and hence receives all the fruits.
The Rithvik -tool- performs the Yagna on behalf of the Yajamana and he is
paid 'Dakshina' for that; hence he has no share in the fruits borne by the
Yagna. Here, in the temple pooja, the Archakas are the Rithviks and Yajamana
is the Donor of the Day. What are more can you ask for? The Lord is there
for Bhagavat Aradhanam and Acharya for Bhaagavat Aradhanam.There is all the
infrstructure for the Yagna ready for you and all you have to do is mail a
small contribution to collect a large and most wholesome blessing that you
can get Kali Yuga !

The importance of Annadhana- Donating food to the needy 
Vedas say - Aham Annam, Annamadhantham Adhmi. I am food; I eat those, who
eat me without sharing me with others. It has been practice from yester days
to feed Bramhanas and Deshantris - travellers on pilgrimage- beforing
partaking food. But, in the fast moving times of today, finding such
deserving people even once or twice a year(during ceremonies of late parents
etc.) has become a herculean task. We earn, cook and consume all the food by
ourselves, thus inflicting upon ourselves more and more curses from the food
and hence all the sorrows of todays materialistic world. 
Here's an oppurtunity to donate food to the most needy and deserving -
devotees of the Lord who are badly in need of food. At the temple, twice
everyday, food offered to Lord DeepaPrakasha and Lord Hayagriva is offered
to Swamy Desika and then distributed to the devotees who are present.
Amongst these devotees, the needy poor and travellers are given lots -
enough to satisfy their hunger for a meal. By donating to the fund, you
would be performing a worthy Annadhana on a day. Jump at it! and get rid of
your sins collected due to selfish hogging of food all these days!
What we eat has a lot of bearing on how we think and behave in life. Eg.
Partaking Thamasik food - eg. meat,eggs etc.- leads to thamasik behaviour
viz. sleep, laziness, incoherence,delusions etc. whereas eating Satvik food
- vegetarian food (rice and vegetables as specified in Desika's Ahara
Niyamam) offered to the Lord- gives rise to Satvik thoughts - ever
remembrance of the Lord and our relationship with him. Similarly, it is well
known that eating the leftovers of Bhaagavata is very auspicious because it
will cause one to cultivate devotion like the Bhaagavata himself.
The food that is distributed here is not mere Anna - or cooked Rice-, but it
is the Prasadam of the Lord and a Bhaagavata Sesham - the leftovers of a
Bhagavata's lunch. The Bhaagavata being none other than the Swamy Desika -
one of Lord's most favourite devotees. What more can you ask for by
participating in this deserving Annadhana !

vAzhi vyAkhyAmuddirak kai !!!


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